A number of surgical device manufacturers have developed product lines with proprietary powered drive systems for operating and/or manipulating the surgical device. In many instances, the surgical devices include a powered handle assembly, which may be reusable, and an end effector and/or loading unit that is selectively connected to the powered handle assembly prior to use. The powered handle assembly may be disconnected from the loading unit and/or end effector following use so that the end effector, loading unit and/or handle assembly may be disposed of, or in some instances, sterilized for re-use.
Many of the existing end effectors for use with many of the existing powered surgical devices and/or handle assemblies are driven by a linear force. For examples, end effectors or loading units for performing endo-gastrointestinal anastomosis procedures, end-to-end anastomosis procedures and transverse anastomosis procedures, each typically require a linear driving force in order to be operated. Thus, these end effectors or loading units are not compatible with surgical devices and/or handle assemblies that use a rotary motion to deliver power or the like.
In order to make the linear driven end effectors or loading units compatible with powered surgical devices and/or handle assemblies that use a rotary motion to deliver power, adapter assemblies are used to interface between and interconnect the linear driven end effectors with the powered rotary driven surgical devices and/or handle assemblies. Many of these surgical devices and/or adapter assemblies are complex devices including many parts and requiring extensive labor to assemble.
Accordingly, a need exists to develop surgical devices and/or adapter assemblies that incorporate fewer parts, are less labor intensive to assemble, and are ultimately more economical to manufacture and use.